Ross Bass | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Bass in 1965 | |
| United States Senator fromTennessee | |
| In office November 4, 1964 – January 3, 1967 | |
| Preceded by | Herbert S. Walters |
| Succeeded by | Howard Baker |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's 6th District | |
| In office January 3, 1955 – November 3, 1964 | |
| Preceded by | James Patrick Sutton |
| Succeeded by | William R. Anderson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1918-03-17)March 17, 1918 Giles County, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | January 1, 1993(1993-01-01) (aged 74) Miami Shores, Florida, U.S. |
| Resting place | Maplewood Cemetery,Pulaski, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Avanell K Bass Judy Bobo Jacqui Colter |
| Alma mater | Martin Methodist College |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Army Air Corps |
| Years of service | 1941-1945 |
| Rank |  Captain |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Ross Bass (March 17, 1918 – January 1, 1993) was an AmericanCongressman andUnited States Senator fromTennessee.
Bass was the son of acircuit-ridingMethodistminister in ruralGiles County, attended the localpublic schools, and graduated fromMartin Methodist Junior College, Pulaski, Tennessee in 1938.[1]
He joined theUnited States Army Air Forces and served as abombardier in Europe duringWorld War II, reaching the rank of captain. After his 1945 discharge Bass opened aflower shop in Pulaski, thecounty seat. He was namedpostmaster of Pulaski in 1946, serving until 1954.[1]
In 1954, Bass was elected as aDemocraticU.S. Congressman from Tennessee's 6th District, which included Pulaski. He was reelected four times. Bass signed onto the 1956 anti-desegregationSouthern Manifesto,[2] but was the only Democratic Representative from the ruralSouth to vote for theCivil Rights Act of 1964.[3] The only other Southern Representatives to vote for the bill were from large cities—Richard Fulton fromNashville, Tennessee,Charles Weltner fromAtlanta, Georgia,Claude Pepper fromMiami, Florida and four Representatives fromTexas (Jack Brooks ofBeaumont,Henry B. Gonzalez ofSan Antonio,J. J. Pickle ofAustin andAlbert Thomas ofHouston). Bass also voted in favor of the24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1962.[4]
In 1963, SenatorEstes Kefauver died in office.GovernorFrank G. Clement made no secret that he wanted to run in the special election due in 1964 for the final two years of Kefauver's term. To that end, he appointed one of his cabinet members,Herbert S. Walters, to serve as a caretaker until the special election. However, Clement's plan backfired when Bass defeated him in the Democratic primary held in August.
In November, Bass defeated theRepublican nominee,Howard Baker by only 51,575 votes the closest that a Republican had come to winning election to the Senate from Tennessee at the time.[5] Since the election was for an unexpired term, and in the Senate seniority is a very important consideration when being considered for committee assignments, office assignments, and the like, Bass was sworn in as soon as the election results could be certified in order to give him a slight seniority advantage over other freshmen Senators elected in 1964. Bass became Tennessee's junior Senator (the senior Senator at that time beingAlbert Gore, Sr.) and prepared to run for a full term in1966. Bass voted in favor of theVoting Rights Act of 1965.[6]
However, this race proved problematic for Bass. Clement still desired the seat for himself, especially since he could not run for reelection as governor in 1966 (in those days, Tennessee governors were barred from immediately succeeding themselves). He wanted to avoid being forced out of politics, as he had once before when faced with term limits the first time in 1958. Due to a large Republican crossover vote, Bass lost the August 1966 Democratic primary to Clement, even though he received 10% more votes than in the previous election. Clement went on to lose resoundingly to Baker in the general election.
Bass subsequently made two attempts to re-enter politics. He ran for the 1974 Democratic nomination for governor, but finished fifth in a nine-candidate field—well behind the eventual winner,Ray Blanton.[7]
In 1976 he entered the Democratic primary for his old House seat and won the nomination. The district, however, had been significantlyredrawn since his previous service. Bass found himself running in a large amount of territory that he did not know and that did not know him. Much of this area was located in suburban territory near Memphis and Nashville that had turned heavily Republican, at least at the national level. Bass lost badly 64% to 36% to the incumbent Republican representative,Robin Beard.[8]
His first marriage to Avanell K Bass ended in divorce in 1967. He married Judy Bobo, of Nashville, in 1975; they divorced in 1979. In 1992 he married Jacqui Colter, who outlived him. After his divorce in 1979, he moved toFlorida, where he lived inMiami Shores until his death fromlung cancer in 1993, aged 74.[1] His first cousin is actorDewey Martin.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forU.S. Senator fromTennessee (Class 2) 1964 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's 6th congressional district 1955–1964 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 2) from Tennessee 1964–1967 Served alongside:Albert Gore | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
